Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for securing electrodes to the chest of an infant afflicted with Apnea. Specifically, the present invention relates to an adjustable belt for disposition about the chest of an infant to support sensing electrodes that have to be disposed there to monitor heartbeat and respiration.
Infants afflicted with Apnea require constant monitoring in the home to identify abnormal pauses in breathing and changes in heart rate. A cessation of breathing, called Apnea, may be accompanied by either a slowing or an increase of the infant's heart rate. These are detectable events. These conditions can result in low supplies of oxygen in the infant's system. To determine if an infant's heart or respiratory rate has changed, physicians place the infants on monitoring devices which detect these changes and inform the observers, frequently the parents, of possible threatening episodes in sufficient time for corrective action to be taken.
In the monitoring devices, lead wires are used to conduct electrical impulses detected by the sensing electrodes. The electrodes are firmly placed upon the infant's chest. The lead wires are plugged into the monitor and the electrodes transmit breathing or heartbeat signals through the lead wires. Commonly, two types of electrodes are used. Disposable electrodes snap on to the lead wires and are pads or discs made of paper or foam rubber which stick to the infant with a special gel that maximizes the quality of the contact with the skin. Permanent electrodes are similar in concept but are detachably affixed to the belt. The electrodes and the belt have hook and loop fasteners which co-act with the electrodes to hold the electrodes in place against the infant's chest. The belt secures the electrodes in place.
In the prior art, the electrode belt has been made of a length of elasticized material such as a stretchable foam. The belt is frequently secured around the infant with a fastening device made of plastic hooks and loops that mesh together and form a detachable fastener. Once the infant is attached to the monitor using the belt of the prior art, alarms occur frequently. Usually these alarms are "false alarms" and result from mechanical malfunctions such as loose leads or from lead wire connections or from an electrode not contacting the skin. The parent, however, must respond to the false alarm as if a real episode were occurring. Very frequently, the false alarms occur when the infant reaches and grasps the electrodes or the lead wires and either disconnects them from the monitor or from its body. Also, as the infant moves during the night while sleeping, the wires can become tangled in the infant's arms and disconnect the lead wires from the monitor. All of such interruptions give a false alarm signal to which the parent must respond.